That Which Ties Us
by ChibiWriterZero
Summary: A little venturing I did into the world of EVO. AU and rated for swearing. Please be gentle, first story for this category. Concerns the brotherhood.


That which ties us

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution

A/N: Yeah, I got challenged to this, so here we go.

forgive me for any OOC' ness, it's my first time with this category.

So sue me on accents, I suck at them!

Lance twirled a pencil in his hand absentmindedly as he watched the clouds in the window, only faintly picking up the monotone voice of the teacher in the classroom. His mind had been elsewhere for most of the entire lesson, dwelling on the events of the past few days.

Wanda had gotten aggravated with the brotherhood boys and took a short break from their antics, disappearing off to who knows where without so much as a note. Pietro was apparently going for the fifth consecutive time of planning multiple dates in the same day….while Lance was currently on shaky ground with Kitty, almost literally. They had gotten into an argument over the current status of her cooking and his inability to try it when he lost his temper and caused a small tremor. Now, just thinking about the argument was enough to send his papers fluttering to the ground.

Ignoring a dirty look from the teacher for interrupting the lesson, Lance sighed and lowered his head, continuing to think. Fred had made a name for himself in the home economics class, which was more than what he could say for Kitty, but it appeared that Fred was happy there, so who was he to argue. Toad on the other hand… had received his daily beating from the local assholes in jockey uniforms and was in the principal's office getting chewed out for his behavior.

Lance ground his teeth in annoyance. Toad was always in trouble for something, be it getting caught stealing or making too much fuss in the classrooms, sometimes just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It irritated him sometimes, to see the younger mutant being chastised for something he either had no control over or had the misfortune of getting caught. Todd wasn't very strong in terms of mutation, compared to himself or Pietro, and it tugged at something inside him to see him beat up and scolded each day.

His thoughts were interrupted by the merciful bell ringing, signaling the end of class and the beginning of lunch. Stuffing all of his things into his bag, he made his way out of the classroom, pointedly walking past Kitty's locker in hopes of getting a glimpse of her. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of Scott Summers, a groan escaping his throat as he maneuvered around and headed for the cafeteria, grumbling all the while.

Eyeballing the menu, he skipped the line and headed over to the table that the brotherhood usually sat at, mentally noting to get something to eat after school instead of chancing the mystery meat. However, he was surprised to find Todd sitting at the table by himself, head down on the table with a half eaten tray of food next to him. Usually, Todd was living up to his nickname Toad, and snagging any and all bugs out of the air with his prehensile tongue to make a meal for himself whenever the mystery meat was served. Lance stood watching the younger mutant for a few moments before attempting a conversation.

" Hey, Toad. What's up? Pietro put you in a bad mood again? Fuzzy 'ported a water balloon on your head or something?" Lance joked, placing a hand on Todd's shoulder. To his surprise, Todd mumbled something incomprehensible before burying his head deeper in his arms and bringing his legs up to his chest.

" Don't feel so well, yo. Leave me alone." Todd finally grumbled out loud.

Lance drew his hand back and rubbed his head a bit. He had always known Todd to be a little cranky after receiving a beating or otherwise, but this felt different. Lifting his hand, Lance sighed and placed it against his own forehead before an idea struck him. He sat next to Todd, parting some of the bangs covering his eyes and placing his hand against Todd's forehead. The skin felt cold and slippery, Lance drawing back his hand. " You're sick." he said dumbly.

" Brilliant observation, yo." Todd rolled his eyes. " You need to be in the smart classes."

Lance rubbed his head and shook it back and forth. " Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have dragged your ass to school then."

" Because I wasn't feeling this bad in the morning. I started feeling like crap after first period." Todd replied, lifting his head. " 'sides, I doubt you would have noticed."

Lance sensed the slight anger in his voice and wisely backed down from making any sort of harsh comment. " So… you gonna skip the rest of classes today?"

Todd looked up at the tree he usually slept in when skipping class. " I was thinking of it." he said softly. In truth, almost all of his energy was gone, hopping- hell, even WALKING- was a major chore after being chased by Duncan and his goons. He mentally knew that he wouldn't be able to cover the small leap into the tree, much less getting over to it. His stomach was killing him, and a lingering feeling of nausea was slowly driving him insane. So much in fact, when Kurt had made a comment about his hair color, Todd felt like opening his mouth just wasn't worth it.

Lance studied his movements for a moment before sighing. " You're not gonna be able to make it into your tree, I can see that. Think you're strong enough to go home by yourself, ditch the rest of the day?"

Todd woefully shook his head no, feeling disgusted with how pathetic he must look. Lifting his tired eyes, he watched as Lance moved back and forth, mumbling to himself before taking his jeep's keys out of his pocket and twirling them around.

Lance's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. " _How come I didn't notice anything was wrong with Todd? Damn it… he's too ill to head home by himself. If there wasn't a chance of Duncan's goons getting the jump on him, I'd tell him to take it easy and walk home slowly, but I don't want to chance such a stupid thing. Think, Lance! Damn it, I wanted to make things up to Kitty after school…but…GODDAMNIT."_

He turned to Todd and helped him up. " Go get your things from your locker if you need it. I'm taking you home. Kitty hopefully will understand."

Watching Todd leave quietly, Lance then turned and started to head for his jeep, a gust of wind making his mood worse.

" Hey-Lance-where-are-you-going-you'd-better-not-be-heading-for-your-jeep-we've-still-got-our-prank-to-pull-after-class." Pietro taunted, taking his keys straight out of his hands.

Lance felt the overwhelming urge to slug Pietro right in the jaw, but banished the thought simply because he knew it would miss, snatched his keys back. " Change of plans, Pietro. Todd's sick and I'm going to take him home. Slime Summers day has been put on hold for now."

Pietro huffed in annoyance, but the look in Lance's eyes suggested imminent pain should he try and talk Todd into performing while ill with his infamous silver tongue. Quicksilver was known for many things, but being slow in the head was not one of them. Looking over at the table where Summers and all of the current X-Men hung out, he sighed.

It would have been a perfect prank too…

Turning back to face Lance, he thought about using the one card that always worked, the what-about-Kitty card, but Lance beat him to the punch for once. " I'm going to have to try again tomorrow or something. Todd needs to go home and rest. Wanda's out somewhere and probably won't be back for awhile, so he'll be able to get some sleep without feeling the need to serenade her locked door. Tell Freddy that I'm gonna get Todd home and in bed, and then come back to pick you guys up after school lets out, okay?"

Pietro kept his mouth shut as he watched Lance leave, thinking on the situation briefly before speeding away to go speak with Fred.

Kurt patiently waited next to his locker as he watched the time tick away, his eyes scanning the bustling hall. Lunch was always busy, be it inside the cafeteria or out, with students rushing to lunch detention and running from Duncan's goons. Kitty had told him to wait outside his locker while she got something and he silently prayed that it wasn't another muffin. Lord knows how much trouble he had with the first half-dozen batches of them.

His attention was drawn by a brief glimpse of Todd fighting with his locker before getting it open with a groan. He and Todd had always shared a sort of rivalry friendship and neutral truce while at school, but he still couldn't bring himself to talk openly with the other mutant. It wasn't that he didn't have things to say, it was more of a what to say situation that left him speechless. Watching Todd grab his back pack and begin to stuff things in it struck a pang of curiosity in him, what on earth could Todd be doing with his backpack during lunch?

He crept closer towards Todd, using the cover of the students and observed carefully as Todd grabbed all of the things that he usually took home with him and closed his bag, stopping only briefly to kneel down a bit and wait for the pain to pass as his stomach cramped again. Kurt lifted an eyebrow out of curiosity as Todd stayed like that for a moment before getting up, looking tired again.

" Vhat is going on with you, Todd?" Kurt asked quietly, coming up next to him. The Professor did say to try and strengthen ties with the Brotherhood, so now was a good as time as any. " You aren't skipping class again, are you?"

" Not in the mood to fight, fuzz ball. Go play with a ball of string or something." Todd snapped back at him.

" _definitely not ze best start…" _Kurt muttered to himself, shaking his head. He started to formulate a better way of asking Todd what was wrong with him before Todd dropped his bag and rushed over to a nearby trash can, vomiting loudly. All thoughts of conversation fled from his mind as he rushed over to Todd, kneeling next to him and wincing as Todd threw up again.

"Don't tell me you ate ze cafeteria food." he said, lamely attempting to joke as he rubbed Todd's back. Todd gave him no answer except for throwing up again, this time spitting up slime with the remnants of his last meal.

" _Todd doesn't look very well at all… is no one from the brotherhood helping him?" _Kurt mused to himself as he rubbed Todd's back in a soothing motion, taking note of the pitiful noises escaping Todd's throat. Slinging Todd's backpack onto his own back, he helped Todd to his feet, wrapping one arm around him to support his weight.

" What are you doing, yo?" Todd asked weakly, looking up at him. He tried to push Kurt's arm away with a snarl, but succeeded in making a rather pathetic sounding noise.

Kurt tightened his grip. " You are in no condition to do anyzing. Let me help you."

Todd groaned and lowered his head. " My day couldn't get any worse…"

" Here Toady….Here Toady…." sneered the voice of one of the jocks from another hallway.

" Spoke too soon." Todd sighed.

Kurt stepped back, weighing his options. He could rush into the bathroom and teleport out of there, getting both him and Todd to safety, but also suffer a lecture from Scott and the Professor about use of powers at school. Or he could try and wait for a teacher to come to their aid.

He chose the bathroom.

Dragging Todd inside the boys bathroom, he was relieved to find it completely empty for once and 'ported outside to the empty parking lot, right next to Lance's jeep. Lance jumped about a foot into the air at the sudden appearance before looking over at Kurt.

" Fuzzy, what on earth are you doing out here?" he growled, raising his arms only to have them fall slack at the sight of Todd.

Kurt handed Lance the backpack. " Jocks." was all he needed to say to have Lance nod in understanding and slowly gather Todd into his arms. Todd had gotten paler, his already pale skin nearly appearing to have no pigment as he rubbed at the corners of his mouth, wiping away some residual slime. He kicked weakly as Lance held him like a child, but allowed the earth-shaker to place him in the seat.

" I'll slime you if you start acting like a mother to me." Todd threatened.

Lance rolled his eyes. " I'll use my powers to open the earth below me and swallow me whole first. Ugh, what is that stuff covering your mouth? Slime?"

Kurt looked at Lance nervously. " He had an accident in ze hallways. At least it was not ze floor."

Lance groaned inwardly before getting in the jeep and starting it up. " Fuzzy. Head back to class and act like nothing happened, you just didn't feel hungry at lunch. I don't mind you personally, but I don't want Summers and the rest of the boy scouts barging in on us while Toad's in no condition to defend himself."

Kurt looked over at Todd and then nodded his head. " Ja. But in return, you have to be on your best behavior." Displaying a wide grin, he turned to head back. " No fights with anyone."

Before Lance could either disagree or argue with Kurt, he headed back to school. It had become a sort of tradition really, for him and Todd to fight every time the brotherhood and the X-men were in arms. It had become so much of a tradition that the two would seek each other out, fighting and trying to best each other in that current round. Sometimes, he managed to win, and on a few rare occasions, Todd had emerged the victor for about a few seconds. It had always spurred him to become a better fighter for the next round.

Now, it pained him to see the amphibious mutant curled up in a fetal position from an internal enemy. " If you need anyzing… call ze institute."

Lance rolled his eyes but gave Kurt a small smile. " All right. But that's if we need anything. I've got the number."

Now it was Kurt's turn to roll his eyes. " Ja. To Kitty's phone."

Lance provided no comment as he started the jeep and drove home, taking a different route so the cops wouldn't hassle him for being out of school. Pulling up next to the house, he turned the jeep off and looked at Todd. " You strong enough to get inside and into your room? I'll be damned if I've gotta carry you into the house."

Todd slowly got out of the jeep with a grunt and lowered into his typical crouch position before leaping a few feet, crashing to the ground. He thought that he had regained enough strength to hop, but forgot to take into account that his stomach was doing flip flops like it was nobody's business. Lance immediately moved to help him, but he brushed him away and started to walk.

It was a short trip to his room, but it felt like miles as Todd groaned and collapsed onto his bed. His stomach felt like it was stuffed into a washing machine on spin cycle. Curling up briefly, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep quickly, Lance watching him in the doorway.

Lance watched him for a few minutes and then headed back down the stairs, intent on going back to his jeep and picking Fred and Pietro up, and maybe stopping off at the store and acquiring some medicine. Even though there were times when Toad annoyed him to no end and he wished to pound him out of existence, he felt as if the younger mutant was like a brother to him. An annoying little brother, but one none the less.


End file.
